Maus
The Maus '''(its official designation being '''Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus) was a German super-heavy tank. It's known to be the heaviest armored fighting vehicle ever built, as well as the strongest tank in the Girls und Panzer series. A bit of history The basic design for the Maus, then known as the VK100.01 / Porsche Type 205, was proposed by Ferdinand Porsche on in June 1942 and was subsequently approved. Its name changed many times during development, from Mammut (mammoth) to Mauschen (little mouse) in December 1942 and finally to Maus in February 1943. Its inventory designation was Sdkfz 205. By May 1943, a wooden mockup of the final Maus configuration was ready and presented to Hitler, who approved it for mass production, ordering a first series of 150. The first, turretless prototype (V1 or 205/1) was assembled by Alkett in December 1943. Tests started the same month, with a mock turret fitted of the same weight as the real turret. In March 1944 the second prototype, the V2 (or 205/2), was delivered. It differed in many details from the V1 prototype. In mid-1944, the V2 prototype was fitted with a powerplant and the first produced Maus turret. This turret was fitted with a 128 mm KwK 44 L/55 gun, with coaxial 75 mm KwK 44 L/36.5 gun and a 7.92 mm MG34 for anti-aircraft armament. The V1 prototype was supposed to be fitted with the second produced turret, but this never happened. The V2 prototype started tests in September 1944, fitted with a Daimler-Benz MB 517 diesel engine, new electric steering system and a Skoda Works designed running gear and tracks. Only two prototypes of the Maus were ever built, and it never entered mass production or participated in any battle. By July 1944, Krupp was in the process of producing four more Maus hulls, but they were ordered to halt production and scrap these (since Hitler decided to stop all super-heavy tank developments in order to focus on mass-producing efficient tanks as the war slowly ends). Krupp stopped all work on it in August 1944. Both prototopyes were ordered to Wünsdorf before their capture. The V2 reached the Hindenburgplatz, where it was destroyed by placing charges in the engine and fighting compartments, but the turret was more or less intact. The V1 didn't reach this area. After the war, the Soviet mated the hull of the V1 with the turret of V2. The combined V1 hull/V2 turret vehicle was completed in Germany and sent back to the USSR for further testing. It arrived there on May 4, 1946. When further testing was completed the vehicle was taken over by the Kubinka Tank Museum for storage where it is now on display. The museum is now planning to recover the prototype to working conditions with Wargaming (the company behind World of Tanks). In Girls und Panzer Kuromorimine planted a Maus tank in the city in the battlefield of their match against Ooarai Girls High School, where the Ooarai girls were trying to retreat to in order to gain an environmental advantage against Kuromorimine. This tank was acknowledged to be the heaviest tank in history by many cast members, as well as being the strongest tank in the series (save for maybe Ami's Type 10, which isn't allowed to participate in any battle in the series according to the Sensha-do Rules, since it's a modern tank), and arguably the strongest possible tank in a Sensha-do match according to the rules. The tank greatly overwhelmed the Ooarai tanks when it confronted them. When it was introduced, the Rabbit Team initially mistook it for a gate or an automated wall, but was shocked at how large a tank it was afterwards. It went on to obliterating Hippo Team's StuG III and Mallard Team's Char B1 bis with little to no effort, and it also knocked Turtle Team backwards in their Hetzer, leading to Anzu thinking she has lost, even though the bullet barely scratched their tank destroyer. Nothing the Ooarai girls did could do any damage to the Maus tank, since all the bullets shot at it were completely deflected. But it was finally defeated when Miho came up with a plan involving the combined effort of nearly all of the remaining Ooarai tanks. At first, the Hetzer charged at it and used its low, sloped hull to lift the Maus, immobilizing it, and creating a ramp for the Type 89B (how the Hetzer initially survived this was explained by Sensha-do tanks being coated with carbon nanotubes, since it's a sport and not real battles). Then, Rabbit Team's M3 Lee distracted the crew by firing their machinegun, leading to the Maus rotating its turret. Immediately afterwards, Duck Team charges towards it with their Type 89B, using the Hetzer as a ramp to land on the Maus' hull and block its turret, completely disabling the tank. Finally, Anglerfish Team uses their Panzer IV to go behind it and deal the finishing shot to its weakest point. The only remaining Ooarai tank which didn't directly participate in the takedown of the Maus was the Tiger (P) (though it was present in the battle). This also marks the first and only time the Ooarai girls had to combine their tanks' effort to defeat one single tank. Tank basic characteristics Kuromorimine has a Maus tank in their team. *'Armament' #'Main Gun : 12.8 cm KwK 44 L/55 #Other : ##7.5 cm KwK 44 L/36.5 ##7.92 mm MG34 *'Hull armor / Turret armor' #'Front : 220 mm / 220 mm #Sides : 190 mm / 200 mm #Rear : 190 mm / 200 mm *'Speed' : 13 km/h (8 mp/h) More about Maus Maus Trivia *The Maus was the only tank in the series which required the combined efforts of multiple tanks to defeat. *The Maus is possibly the strongest tank possible in a Sensha-do match, since the rules only allow tanks proposed before the end of World War II to participate. *The Maus is the only Tier X tank in the game World of Tanks to be present in Girls und Panzer. Category:Tanks